Coronavirus stimulus: House Democrat says President Trump's executive order threats are mostly empty

·Reporter

August 6, 2020 at 4:43 PM·3 min read

With President Trump officially stating that he’s exploring the possibility of enacting executive orders for some provisions of the stimulus deal, more lawmakers have cast doubt on his authority to do so.

Representative Dan Kildee (D-MI) said that the president might not be able to do those things unilaterally.

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 27: Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., speaks at a news conference in the Capitol to call for aid for the Flint water crisis be included in the government funding bill, September 27, 2016. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., also appears. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) — Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., speaks at a news conference in the Capitol. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

“The president has unique perspectives on the executive authority that he possesses,” Kildee said on Yahoo Finance’s The Final Round (video above). “I don’t think he has the authority to do many of the things he says ... He often stops short of actually taking action.”

As Congress nears the end of the second week of negotiations for the next stimulus package without reaching an agreement, President Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to announce that he’s preparing to sign an executive order on some of the provisions of the deal.

Upon departing the Oval Office for Ohio, I’ve notified my staff to continue working on an Executive Order with respect to Payroll Tax Cut, Eviction Protections, Unemployment Extensions, and Student Loan Repayment Options.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2020

Kildee said he hopes that Democrats can rely on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin “to actually take some serious steps” and for the president to go along.

“I've gotten to the point where I just don't listen to what he says anymore,” Kildee said about Trump. “I only look to his actions and a tweet or a speech doesn't quite make policy.”

‘The one thing the president can do is to extend the moratorium’

Trump’s authority to sign executive orders on those provisions has been questioned not only by Democrats but also by White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow.

“We have got to fix and extend the unemployment issue right now,” Kudlow said on Tuesday. “I don't think that can be done administratively. I think that requires an act of Congress.”

As for the payroll tax cut that the president has been suggesting, experts have said that he has limited authority to postpone the employee side of the payroll but not to suspend it.

UNITED STATES - AUGUST 06: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., make their way to a news conference on coronavirus aid in the Capitol Visitor Center on Thursday, August 6, 2020. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) — Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer make their way to a news conference on coronavirus aid in the Capitol Visitor Center on Thursday, August 6. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Congress has to pass tax laws, not the president,” Seth Hanlon, a tax-policy expert at the Center for American Progress, previously told Yahoo Money. “He has limited authority to postpone tax filing and payment deadlines, in instances of disasters.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also weighed on the president’s authority on those matters.

“The one thing the president can do is to extend the moratorium,” she said at a press conference on Thursday. “And that would be a good thing if there's money to go with it.”

Denitsa is a writer for Yahoo Finance and Cashay, a new personal finance website. Follow her on Twitter @denitsa_tsekova.

Read more:

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Reddit.

AFP
Tunisia women herb harvesters struggle with drought and heat
On a hillside in Tunisia's northwestern highlands, women scour a sun-scorched field for the wild herbs they rely on for their livelihoods, but droughts and rising temperatures are making it ever harder to find the precious plants.Wildfires fuelled by drought and rising temperatures have ravaged these woodlands, further diminishing the natural resources that women like Soudani depend on.
Politico
Trump taps billionaire Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta as Italy ambassador
Fertitta has never held political office but is a longtime GOP donor — including to Trump’s Save America PAC.
Associated Press
The water was their livelihood. Now Thailand's sea nomads work to preserve a vanishing way of life
When Hook was a child, he started his days by jumping off the boat that his family lived on and into the ocean. Now Hook, whose full name is Suriyan Klathale, lives on land like the rest of his community, a people known as the Moken. The recollections of his childhood, which many Moken of his generation still have, are mostly just memories.
Associated Press
Fleeing motorist is dead after driving into Texas shopping mall and injuring 5
Texas law enforcement fatally shot a fleeing motorist who drove a pickup into a JCPenney at a busy shopping mall Saturday, injuring five bystanders, authorities said. Four of the injured people were taken from the Killeen mall to hospitals and the fifth went on their own, Sgt. Bryan Washko of the Texas Department of Public Safety said in an evening media briefing. Ofelia Miramontez of the Killeen Police Department said the incident began with calls about an erratic driver in a black pickup in Belton, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) away.
Reuters
Trump says he might demand Panama hand over canal
President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday accused Panama of charging excessive rates for use of the Panama Canal and said that if Panama did not manage the canal in an acceptable fashion, he would demand the U.S. ally hand it over. In an evening post on Truth Social, Trump also warned he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," and he seemed to warn of potential Chinese influence on the passage, writing the canal should not be managed by China. It also underlines an expected shift in U.S. diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.
AFP
In ruined homes, Palestinians recall Assad's torture
School lessons ended in Syria's biggest Palestinian refugee camp on October 18, 2012, judging by the date still chalked up on the board more than a decade later.According to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, at the start of Syria's conflict in 2011 it was home to 160,000 registered refugees.
CBS News
NYPD chief resigns amid sexual misconduct claims
NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey has resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct, the department says.
CNN
How a teenager’s holiday romance led to prison time in Dubai
British citizen Marcus Fakana, 18, is facing a one-year prison sentence for his summer romance with a London teenager, 17, who he met while on holiday in the United Arab Emirates.
Politico
Biden could foil Trump’s plans to resume federal executions
The president is considering using his clemency power to convert federal death sentences to life in prison.
NBC News
Lara Trump says she's removed her name from contention to be Florida's senator
Lara Trump, President-elect Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, said on Saturday that she decided to remove her name from consideration to be a senator in Florida.
AFP
India's architecture fans guard Mumbai's Art Deco past
A towering cinema with a roofline like an ocean liner stands out in India's financial capital Mumbai, part of a remarkable Art Deco architectural heritage that campaigners say needs protection.Architects used geometric patterns and streamlined structures to evoke the popular technologies of the time, including airplanes and ocean liners.
Politico
Trump threatens to retake Panama Canal
The U.S. ceded control of the canal to Panama in 1999 pursuant to a Carter administration treaty
Politico
Lara Trump removes herself from Florida Senate sweepstakes
Lara Trump, who recently stepped down from her post as co-chair of the Republican National Committee, announced her decision Saturday evening in a social media post.
AFP
Large earthquake hits battered Vanuatu
A magnitude-6.1 earthquake rattled buildings on Vanuatu's main island early Sunday but did not appear to have caused major damage, five days after a more powerful quake wreaked havoc and killed 12 people."It gave a better bit of a shake and the windows rattled a little bit, it would have caused houses to rattle," he said.
NBC News
Trump taps former producer of 'The Apprentice' as special envoy to U.K.
President-elect Donald Trump announced he has asked former producer from "The Apprentice" as his pick to serve as a special envoy to the United Kingdom.
Associated Press
Lara Trump says she's removing herself from consideration to be Florida senator
Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, said Saturday that she's removing herself from consideration to be a Florida senator — ending speculation that she could replace Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been tapped to be the incoming administration's secretary of state. "After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate," Lara Trump posted on X.
CNN
Durbin uses new report to accuse Justices Thomas and Alito of violating disclosure laws
A top Senate Democrat on Saturday accused conservative Supreme Court justices of violating federal disclosure laws in a lengthy report that caps a monthslong investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee and comes weeks before Republicans take control of the chamber.
Time
Why Amazon Delivery Drivers Are On Strike
A delivery driver at an Amazon facility in Southern California, explains why she and her colleagues are on strike.
Reuters
Turkey will do 'whatever it takes' if Syria government cannot address Kurd militia issue, minister says
Turkey will do "whatever it takes" to ensure its security if the new Syrian administration cannot address Ankara's concerns about U.S.-allied Kurdish groups it views as terrorist groups, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday. Turkey regards the YPG, the militant group spearheading the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington, and the European Union.
USA TODAY
Lara Trump removes her name to replace Marco Rubio as Florida senator
Lara Trump has decided to remove her name from consideration to be a senator in Florida replacing outgoing Senator Marco Rubio.

‘The one thing the president can do is to extend the moratorium’

Latest Stories